... And the winner is: Has America's next president already been determined?

http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
WANT TO KNOW who the next president is going to be? What's
that? You don't?

Well, I'm going to tell you anyway.

I know the answer because I have once again talked to Corey Ruzicka, an
advertising man from Arlington, Texas, who has an amazing record of
correctly picking presidential winners.

He does no polling. He assembles no focus groups. He talks to not a single
voter.

But he always gets it right. His method is simplicity itself. I first
interviewed him in 1992, when Bill Clinton was far down in the polls.

"Clinton is going to win," Ruzicka told me. "And that's because his name
ends in N. He probably will be a one-term president or something will happen
to him in office, however, because his running mate, Al Gore, has a name
that ends in E."

I thought Ruzicka was nuts at the time, but not only did Clinton win, but
something did happen to Clinton in office: He got impeached.

"Of America's 51 presidential elections, 22 of them have been won by the
candidate whose last name ended in N," Ruzicka said back then. "And 33
elections have had at least one presidential candidate with an N-ending
name."

OK, fine, but why do Americans seem to like people whose name ends in N? I
asked.

"Your name ends in N," Ruzicka said.

Good point, I said.

So I called Ruzicka back this week to see his predictions for Campaign
2000.

And he gave the edge to Al Gore.

"When we have had candidates whose names end in E," Ruzicka said, "they
have had fours wins and eight losses. When we have had candidates whose name
ends in H, they have had one win and two losses. President Bush is the only
H-name to win."

In other words, Gore has a 50 percent chance of winning, while George W.
Bush has only a 33 percent chance.

But what about running mates? I asked. And It turns out that can change the
picture big time.

"Whenever an E candidate names a vice president whose name ends in S, they
have won 3-0," Ruzicka said. "James Monroe won twice with Daniel Tompkins,
and Calvin Coolidge won with Charles Dawes. That is why Gore should pick
Gray Davis, the governor of California."

As it turns out, Gray Davis announced this week that he would not accept
the vice presidency, but when he reads this column, he might change his
mind.

"Gore could also pick Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, Baucus of Montana or
Edwards of North Carolina." Ruzicka said.

But what if Gore doesn't pick an S-ending vice president? I asked.

"Whenever an E candidate goes with someone other than S vice president,
it's one win and eight losses," Ruzicka said. "Franklin Pierce is the E
candidate who won.

And what about Bush?

"Well, he should go with an N-ending candidate, because Ns are so popular
in America," Ruzicka said.

Which means John McCain or Fred Thompson of Tennessee, who was a McCain
backer, I said. But I don't think Bush is going to pick either of them.

"Yes, my gut feeling is that Bush will go with an E-ender, because his dad
went with an E-ender, Dan Quayle," Ruzicka said.

Which would mean Elizabeth Dole or Tom Ridge.

"Just as long as nobody picks Chuck Hagel, a Republican from Nebraska or
George Mitchell, a Democrat from Maine," Ruzicka said.

Why?

"Because whenever we have a Y- or L-ending winning or losing presidential
or vice presidential candidate, we have a major war with major casualties
within four years," Ruzicka said.

Bill Bradley and Colin Powell please take note: Maybe you should consider
careers in
TV.